Just a note that Jim Detterline has passed.

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healyje

Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
Topic Author's Original Post - Oct 27, 2016 - 03:06pm PT
Don't know any details. He was one of the more interesting folks I've ever shared a rope with...
Dick Danger

Trad climber
Lakewood, Colorado
Oct 27, 2016 - 03:47pm PT
http://kdvr.com/2016/10/27/jim-detterline-the-passing-of-a-hero/

Gnome Ofthe Diabase

climber
Out Of Bed
Oct 27, 2016 - 03:55pm PT
RESPECT

the name sent my mind reeling . . . The, . . . wait ,Who, No-WAY (uuhhhhshigh?!)




Wow, edit added 5:02 am 10/30

This from Mnt Project, a post from "Pine Sap", (there is a link a few posts below)





I am posting this tribute to Jim on behalf of Lisa Foster -

For 4 days I’ve been mired in sadness and unable to carry on with the normalcy of life after learning of the untimely and shocking death of my good friend, Jim Detterline. Jim’s beautiful wife Rebecca called me Tuesday evening after Jim’s body was discovered at the base of a series of rock cliffs near Allenspark. Jim sustained significant internal trauma determined to be caused by a fall in a roped-solo climbing accident from a 15-20 foot high cliff that is about a half mile from their home. He was 60 years old.

Jim worked for Rocky Mountain National Park from 1984 to 2009. He worked for many years as a Longs Peak Supervisory Climbing Ranger and Law Enforcement Officer. He climbed Longs Peak more times than anyone in history—a total of 428 times. I was lucky enough to share 8 of these successful Longs Peak summit trips with Jim, as well as innumerable failures where we went out to attempt to climb the peak but got thwarted for various reasons, mostly due to high winds and unstable snow conditions. These “failures” were some of my favorite times with Jim, as we laughed and shared stories and reveled being in the elements. Outside of our time shared on Longs Peak, Jim and I spent many, many hours rock climbing, ice climbing and mountaineering in RMNP and elsewhere in Colorado.

Jim was larger than life. He lived passionately and vibrantly, and had a dry, witty sense of humor and infectious laugh that became his trademark. He was a dear friend and an impressive climbing mentor. He was the toughest guy I knew.

Jim was a talented trumpet player who played with the Estes Park Village Band for many years. He graciously volunteered to play music for weddings, funerals and all kinds of community events.

Jim was well educated, with a Master’s degree in vertebrate zoology, and a Ph.D. in invertebrate zoology. As a herpetologist, he kept many reptiles as pets, including several species of turtles, a caiman, snakes, a chameleon, and other creatures. He saved an African spur tortoise from the Colorado flood in 2013.

Jim was hearing impaired, but it didn’t slow him down. He was an effective advocate for those with hearing loss and routinely helped children with hearing problems.

Jim took me under his wing in the late 1980’s and taught me how to ice climb, and instilled a great respect and sense of admiration for Longs Peak in my soul. He encouraged me to pursue the female ascent record on Longs Peak, which became a reality in August of 2015. Jim fueled my passion for the outdoors and always supported my alpine dreams and goals.

Jim had many stories to tell. Thankfully, he recorded many of them in his unpublished book, “From Zero to Hero and Back Again.” I have read this book and it is enviably well written, excessively engaging and ultimately entertaining. In the introduction, he states “There is a fine line between being a “Zero” and a “Hero.” I don’t believe that anyone actually desires to be a Zero. And most persons who outwardly desire to be Heroes are incapable of becoming such, as the very nature of being a hero generally precludes those who lust for the status. Although I have been cited both as a Zero and as a Hero, I didn’t ask for, nor aspire to either title. I simply tried to do my best when faced with certain critical situations.” Jim was presented the Department of the Interior’s Medal of Valor for the 1995 rescue in which he saved two people from drowning in a rushing river near Horseshoe Falls in Rocky Mountain National Park. The Valor Award is presented to Department of the Interior employees who have demonstrated unusual courage involving a high degree of personal risk in the face of danger. This was the rescue for which Jim was most publicly lauded, but he mused that his “most difficult rescues were not those we had been commended for.” He went on to say “The Horseshoe Falls rescue, for example, took place in only ten minutes, compared to the continually dangerous and frigid all-night rescue of Matt McClellan from the Narrows of Longs Peak in 1991.” He performed over 1,200 rescues in his career, saving many lives. He always made it a point to spend extra time with the victim’s families and treated every person he met with honor and respect.

Jim married Rebecca Stegura Detterline on November 17, 2012, and I am so grateful that she came into his life. She brought him immeasurable joy, and I am so happy that the last few years of his life were spent with someone so loving, kind, and generous. Oh, and she's hilarious too!!!

Jim touched tens of thousands of people with his passion for Longs Peak, his dedication to the sport of climbing, his interest in statistics and history, and his devotion to his friends and family.

Jim freely presented hundreds of slideshows and talks, inspiring countless people with his stories of adventure and hard-won life lessons. Steve Volker was impacted by one of Jim’s slideshows in 1986. “From Jim I learned not only what adventures he had experienced, but also what adventures I could experience.”

Although Jim never had children, he loved kids and always took a keen interest in my daughter, Ellie. Ellie climbed Longs Peak for the first time when she was 6 years old, and then again for her second time this past summer at the age of 7. The last time she saw Jim, he got down on his knees and gave her a hug. “I’m so proud of you!” he told her. “Do you know how old I was when I first climbed Longs Peak?” Ellie stared up at Jim with interest. “Nope,” she said. “I was 29!” he exclaimed. She let out a squeal of delight and told him, “I beat you!!!” Jim threw his head back, laughing. “You sure did!”

Jim was the kindest and best of men. He was a talented climber on rock, ice and snow. I am so fortunate to have known him so well and to have been able to share so many amazing and beautiful adventures with him. I will be forever grateful that I knew Jim, and he will continue to inspire me, and thousands of other people, to be the best we can be at all we do in life. Jim always put his best foot forward and encouraged others to do the same. He was an inspiration and a LEGEND. I will always miss him.


Lisa Foster






On this earth angles walk among us this one has returned to heaven , He had that focus one could see , visually. a focus like a lazer beam . ..

His all out drive . . . hike all night and day, set camp, still
organize stuff , turn in last , then be up first - out ahead - up trail, at the base 1st by long enough to be sixty feet up and have climbed back down. . . .
take the. First leads . . . In blocks. .
Leaving the finest leads for us visitors, saving things, saying; "you gotta' do this", at any moment willing and able to step past whatever difficulties had been slowing
progress or came along the rest of the way.


There is no match. . .

. . . .


" The frustrating thing is we never know exactly what happened "

With the greatest respect most sincere condolences . .


What a Loss one of the great ones.
Take care,Focus up there . . . and even then . . .







Edit:1/29
Whew, I'm spooked, please,
If in this moment early my mistake hurt anyone - please I'm so sorry, my apologies.
it was honest, it seems Now that another great in every way Climber was the focus
Of the link below. OMG. RIP S.C.?!,!? . . .
http://www.hcn.org/issues/360/17398
DanWenger

Trad climber
Santa Cruz, CA
Oct 28, 2016 - 02:20pm PT

Met Jim on a trip to CO with Lou Renner. Wonderful to hear the two talk tales of climbing. I was doing a web site on a relative who preceded Jim as a guide on Longs Peak. See ShepHusted.com Some more photos of Jim on the site and some history of Longs Peak.

Here is a quote of Jim's:

Those of us with the achievements of today are only here because we have stood on the shoulders of those who climbed before us.  We are not better climbers than they were; we merely have the benefit of taking the route knowledge, equipment advances, and the positive attitudes given by the successes of previous generations to the next level. Jim Detterline, 2010.
Lawny

Trad climber
Arvada, CO
Oct 28, 2016 - 03:12pm PT
Local news articles are saying he was found with gear and harness on at the base of some rocks near Allenspark. I have not seen anything saying he was on Longs. -John
Fan

climber
Oct 28, 2016 - 03:16pm PT
Sad, sad news.
neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
Oct 28, 2016 - 09:36pm PT
hey there say, my condolences and prayers to his family and loved ones...

:( did not know him, and thank you for sharing more about him,
so that we CAN know of him, and his mark in this world...

:(
Bill Mc Kirgan

Trad climber
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Oct 29, 2016 - 06:27am PT
http://www.mountainproject.com/v/rip-jim-detterline/112265849__2

^^ The MP thread provides some more detail about his passing.


I never knew the man but have great admiration for his life of service to others and his passion for climbing and being outdoors.

Wishing his family and friends peace and comfort during this terrible time, and keeping you all in my prayers.

Rick A

climber
Boulder, Colorado
Oct 29, 2016 - 08:51am PT
I am very sorry to read of Jim’s death. He was a kind and fascinating character, who for several years lived in a tiny cabin at the base of the Longs Peak trailhead. It was filled with snakes and other reptiles and I took my kids there once just to see his creatures.

Sometime in the 1990s, the AAC sponsored a cleanup of the Diamond and a group of us walked in with hired llamas to help carry out the trash. We bivied in or around the old rescue hut that was used to be on the shores of Chasm lake. The next day, Jim asked me to climb the Kieners route with him, in order to remove an old wooden box of rescue supplies that had been stored half way up the route. This sounded much more interesting than picking up trash around the base, but there was one hitch.

Kieners starts with the Lamb's Slide couloir and it was August and icy. I had brought along only my tennis shoes and I had not anticipated doing any climbing. Jim said “no problem”: in the hut were stored crampons and ice axes , and I was able to jury- rig the crampons to my tennis shoes. Jim led the Lamb's Slide and I followed, with the crampons almost falling off several times, then we both scrambled up the rock traverse to the box.

Now for the fun part. The best way to “clean up” the box was to to bang out its piton anchors and simply chuck it off, a drop of 500 feet or so. The others were out of the way and ready to retrieve it at the base. Well, it was an unwieldy thing, but we finally got it over the side and leaned out to watch it go. It exploded on the first couple of ledges it hit on the way down and splintered into a million pieces. The guys at the base said not a toothpick reached the ground. Oh well.

Mission accomplished, more or less, we continued to the top and down the Camel. It was great to share with Jim a day of Park Service- sanctioned trundling.

My condolences to his family and friends.

Rick Accomazzo
rgold

Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
Oct 29, 2016 - 09:19am PT
Heartfelt condolences to Jim's family and friends.

Jim's tragedy gives some serious food for thought to those of us with many years of experience who are still in the game. Here's a guy with 400+ ascents of Longs and many heroic rescues undone by a simple slip on some ice in a familiar spot. Don't ever think for a moment that all your accumulated experience and knowledge counts for anything if you drop your guard for even an instant. Neither the ice patch nor your boot sole know how long you've been doing this, and they will not be offering second chances based on your many years of success.

Jim leaves a legacy of service to his community, his tribe, that few of us can begin to match. His passing is a terrible loss for us all.
Gnome Ofthe Diabase

climber
Out Of Bed
Nov 1, 2016 - 09:28am PT
Candle lit





,


http://www.allnutt.com/obituaries/James-Detterline/#!/TributeWall


Then from the MP thread il delete if it is not my place //. in a bit, 2.5 hrs drive then I'LL check


jeremy long
13 mins ago, 11:30am PST
" I hope you are ready to climb today" says Jim, my only reply was "you know it". With that short exchange we got onto a helicopter bound for a lake at the base of Chaquita.

I worked at the Park with Jim, we did several trainings, rescues, various small projects and hikes together. Of course, being Jim, his reputation and legend preceded him. During one of these moments I had seen Jim playing around on short stones and noted to myself that he wasn't as strong as I had thought given his legendary notoriety. In 2005 I quickly realized just how wrong I was... while on search and rescue.

2005 was the summer that we lost Jeff Christianson and initiated a search and rescue that lasted about a week. Jim and I were put together due to our climbing abilities and experience, of which Jim was far superior. Going into the idea I wasn't apprehensive because in my mind "Jim wasn't a strong climber", so off we went.

It was clear from the beginning that Jim had the exact same idea about how the search was going as everyone else on the ground, F*#KING FUBARED. Everyone knew where we would find Jeff. Jim's main intention was to get a climb in that day and clear a coular of any evidence of Jeff. But really it was the FA on Chaquita.

We stepped off the helicopter at the foot of Chaquita and faced the shortest approach to a snow climb I had ever had and Jim wasted no time. We were gone before the bird!

Our gear was light, a couple of stoppers, harnesses, crampons and axes, a couple of slings and 1 one hundred foot 8mm static line. A 10 minute warm up hike and we are at our coular. I look up the thing and my first response is "holly sh#t that is steep!" We start up in good style, harnesses on and gear still in the packs. Instantly the climb shows us its nature, loose, chossy pile of melting sand and snow sitting at about 75 degrees or more. Jim goes first, but it is of little consequence because I stay right up his ass so anything knocked loose won't kill me and this thing was raining rocks and sand. We kept going past a small snow pile and under the cracked corniced arch to gain the coular above a pinch that required a couple of mixed moves over loose large blocks set almost vertically. Jim fly's up it leaving little choice for me but to do the same. Above this step the terrain seemed to turn to absolute sh#t, things got steeper and everything we touched would fall away. I dont know whether to call it half frozen or half thawed but it was a wet nightmare, so up we went.

We climbed another short pitch to the bottom of another step blocky step with a cornice below it. During the climb I had been keeping my eyes out for gear placements, but the walls of the coular were trash rock with no real good cracks and even if there were I wouldn't have trusted the weak rotting stone. Jim didn't seem to notice or care. From this point we could see up most of the rest of the coular and the next headwall weighed heavily upon me. Keep in mind at this point we are only about 100' up this thing, but it took us an hour to get there. Also this coular,as are most, was above a couple of hundred feet of steep talus slope.

So now I am left starring up at this twenty or thirty foot step made of giant loose jagged blocks that are dead vertical and this is when I called it. "Jim, we are on rescue right now, this thing has no pro and we are free soloing. Should we be doing this?" I watched his heart sink to his heels and I could not help but feel ashamed of my pusillanimous attitude. He quickly reassured me that he was uncomfortable as well and the right decision was to descend, but I could see he wanted it as did I. Just not this day.

At that we pulled out his rope and started to carve the snow cornice to make a rap station, threw the 8mm around it and wrapped our forty foot throw. From there we made our way down to the next snow wrap, carved it out and rapped our last pitch to the ground wet cold and humbled.

While we did not climb our route we did achieve a vantage point to clear the search area of that coular, so that was good. However the best part for me was that I had the wonderful experience of climbing with the legend Jim Detterline.

Godspeed Jim.
JEleazarian

Trad climber
Fresno CA
Nov 1, 2016 - 10:56am PT
Very sorry to read the news. I find it interesting that he, like Werner, was hearing impaired, but a real hero in SAR.

RIP, good man.

John
healyje

Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
Topic Author's Reply - Nov 3, 2016 - 12:55pm PT
Yeah, it is interesting that two of our most talented SAR guys had / have hearing issues that didn't seem to stop either of them from doing anything.
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Dec 24, 2016 - 07:33pm PT
I somehow missed this thread when I was out of town.

I had the pleasure of doing a full biographical interview with Jim last year and I am very glad that I chose to do so. He was a fine climber and one hell of a good ranger. He also wrote an early guide book to climbing in the southeast.

Despite living a model life of service as a ranger in Rocky Mountain National Park he ran afoul of the bureaucracy and had to battle for his good name and retirement.

Rest in Peace and much respect for all your good work helping others in the mountains.
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